Turkey denies violating Greek airspace

Turkey has rejected accusations from Greece that its jetfighters violated Greek airspace over the Aegean Sea on Thursday.

A Foreign Ministry statement said four of its planes were harassed during a training flight but it denied that the incident occurred inside Greek airspace.

Turkey also denied breaking an agreement barring either country from engaging in military activity on religious holidays.

Greece had said that Turkish planes entered its airspace near the island of Skyros on Thursday but were intercepted and driven off by the Greek airforce.

Correspondents say that Athens frequently accuses the Turkish airforce of violating its airspace over the Aegean.

This is because the Greek government claims a sixteen-kilometre airspace beyond its borders, while Turkey has only recognized a ten-kilometre limit.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service